1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates generally to a method for playing a game or sport having certain similarities to American football, but with novel differences tailored to permit playing the game on a reduced size playing area. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fast-paced, high-scoring, football game that can be played in facilities smaller in size than those typically used by the National Football League ("NFL") and National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA"), and which is particularly suited for play in many existing indoor sports facilities.
2. Description of Related Art
The birthdate of American football is generally regarded by football historians as Nov. 6, 1869, when teams from Rutgers and Princeton Universities met in New Brunswick, N.J., for the first intercollegiate football game. Following the inaugural game in 1869, college football soon became a popular American team sport in its own right.
Professional football first appeared in the United States in about 1895 in the town of Latrobe, Pa., where a team representing Latrobe took the field against a team from Jeannette, Pa. Twenty-five years later, the first league of professional football teams was formed. This inaugural league, the American Professional Football Association, gave way to the National Football League ("NFL") in 1922.
Presently, football at both the college and professional levels is an immensely popular spectator sport in the United States. With the exception of some minor changes, both sports have remained essentially unchanged over the years.
Generally speaking, college and professional football is played on a playing field having a width of 160 feet and a length of 360 feet, which length includes a ten-yard (or 30 foot) end zone at each end. The game is played by two opposing teams, each fielding eleven players at any given time. The opposing teams are designated as the team on offense (the team in possession of the ball) and the team on defense (the team defending a goal line against the team on offense). The team on offense tries to move the ball down the field to score in the end zone defended by the team on defense. The object of the game is to score more points than the opposing team within the designated playing time. Although a few indoor facilities exist which are large enough to accommodate college and professional football games, the size of the requisite playing field for these two games necessitates a very large enclosed stadium and precludes indoor play in most covered facilities, which can otherwise easily accommodate basketball, indoor hockey, indoor soccer and the like.
In professional and collegiate football, the eleven players of the team on offense are divided into two groups: seven linemen, who play on the line of scrimmage (an imaginary line designating the position of the ball) and a backfield of four players, called backs, who stand in various positions behind the linemen. The lineman whose position is in the middle of the line is called the center. The back who usually stands directly behind the center and directs the play of the team on offense is known as the quarterback.
The team on defense consists of a row of linemen, a row of linebackers, and a collection of defensive backs, known as the secondary. Defensive linemen principally are responsible for stopping the opposition's running attack and, in passing situations, putting pressure on the quarterback. The linebackers line up behind the defensive line and, depending on the situation, are used to stop the run attack, pressure the quarterback, or cover the opposition's receivers. The secondary is comprised of cornerbacks, who cover wide receivers, and safeties, who cover receivers, offer support in stopping the rushing attack, and pressure the quarterback.
At the start of each game, the ball is put in play by a place-kick from the kicking team's 30-yard line. The kicking team lines up at or behind the ball, while the opponents spread out over their territory in a formation devised to help them to catch the ball and run it back effectively. If the kick stays within the boundaries of the field, any player on the receiving team may catch the ball, or pick it up on a bounce, and run with it. As the player runs, the player may be tackled by any opponent and stopped. This is known as being downed.
Play resumes as the team on offense gathers in a circle, called a huddle, and discusses the next play it will use to try to advance the ball. The team on defense also forms a huddle and discusses its next attempt to slow the offense. After the teams come out of their respective huddles, they line up opposite each other on the line of scrimmage.
Play begins when the center crouches over the ball and snaps it to the quarterback. The quarterback can pass the ball, hand it off to a teammate, or run with it himself. The offensive players bump the defenders, or try to force them out of the way, by performing a maneuver known as blocking. The defending team tries to prevent the team on offense from advancing the ball by tackling the ball carrier as quickly as possible.
The offense must advance the ball at least ten yards in four tries, called downs. After each play, the teams line up again and a new play takes place. If the team on offense fails to travel ten yards in four downs, it must surrender the ball to its opponent after the fourth down. A team will often punt on fourth down if it has not gained at least ten yards in its previous three tries. By punting, a team can send the ball farther away from its own end zone before surrendering it, thus weakening the opponent's field position.
A team scores a touchdown when one of its players carries the ball into the opposing team's end zone or catches a pass in the end zone. A touchdown is worth six points. After a team has scored a touchdown, it tries for an extra-point conversion. This is an opportunity to score an additional one or two points with no time elapsing off the game clock. A running or passing conversion in which the ball crosses the goal line counts for two points. A place-kick between the goalposts and over the crossbar counts for one point. The goalposts are eighteen feet, six inches wide and the top face of the crossbar is ten feet above the ground.
On offense, teams may also attempt to score by kicking a field goal between the goalposts and over the crossbar. A field goal counts for three points. A field goal is scored by means of a place-kick, in which one player holds the ball upright on the ground for a teammate to kick. The team on defense can also score two points for a safety when it causes the team on offense to end a play in possession of the ball behind its own goal line. The team having the most points at the end of the designated playing time is deemed the winner of the game.
Variations of traditional American football exist. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,433 to Foster, which discloses an apparatus and method for a variation of traditional American football. Substantially the same rules as American football (e.g., NFL or NCAA) are used in the game of the Foster patent, except that kicks or passes into the end zone may be deflected back onto the playing field as a "live" ball by rebounding assemblies at either end of the playing field that are proximate to the goal line, but elevated above the playing field.
Another variation of traditional American football is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,433 to Moore, which discloses a football game (which may be either a contact- or non-contact game) which primarily employs the passing aspects of traditional American football. Moore discloses a game played on a playing field measuring forty yards long and thirty yards wide with baskets or nets located on the playing field at fixed positions from the line of scrimmage. One player serves as the offensive quarterback and the remaining players serve as defensive players whose primary purpose is to prevent the quarterback from successfully passing into one of the baskets or nets. One of several stated objects of the invention disclosed in Moore is to provide a football passing game which can be played by three to five players of widely varying ages, and to provide a fast-paced game which utilizes the most challenging aspects of the passing game, while mitigating the severe physical contact of traditional American football.